Egypt's human rights record slammed at UN meeting
Source: AP-Excite
By SARAH EL DEEB and FRANK JORDANS
CAIRO (AP) Egypt's human rights record came under harsh criticism during a U.N. review Wednesday, with the United States and European nations urging President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government to reverse tough measures enacted following last year's overthrow of his Islamist predecessor that have clamped down on freedoms.
The damning assessment came during the first U.N. review of the country's human rights record since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The uprising was led by youthful activists hoping for a more democratic future, but rights groups say today's government is even more oppressive, having enacted draconian curbs on protests and political activity and jailed thousands of Islamist and secular opponents.
"We are deeply concerned with steps taken by Egypt that have resulted in violations of freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association, deprived thousands of Egyptians of fair trial guarantees, and undermined civil society's role in the country," U.S. Ambassador Keith Harper told the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council.
Harper called for the release of political prisoners and urged Egypt to "investigate excessive use of force by security forces, publicly release findings, and prosecute those identified as being responsible."
FULL story at link.
FILE -- In this Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 file photo, Egyptian police fire water cannons to disperse a protest by secular anti-government activists in Cairo. The United States and other countries on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014 slammed the human rights situation in Egypt at a United Nations meeting reviewing the country's record for the first time since the 2011 ouster of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Mohammed Asad, File)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141105/eu-united-nations-rights-egypt-94734ac7cc.html
merrily
(45,251 posts)Rec'd only for visibility.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)Sorry, Egypt is one of those countries we should invade and then steal all of the wealth of the top 1% and give it to the poor. That excess wealth in the top 1% is killing Egypt. Morsi was working on that problem (and why he was overthrown) but since Morse did NOT have the support of the Officer Ranks of the Military, he had to be careful.
Remember the Generals of Egypt has stolen most of the wealth of Egypt since Nasser. It started under Nasser, but he contained it, but Sadat left it go, and Mubarak left it go hog wild. Thus the Generals have replaced the Christians as the source of most wealth in Egypt (It is believed most of the Wealth in Egypt was held by the Christian Minority till the 1950s, when the Generals started to steal anything and everything). The need for redistribution of wealth scares the Christian Minority, for they think the people will go after them not the generals for they are easier pickings. I suspect the Generals are doing they best to support such fears, thus they have a solid 15% of the population behind them.
On the other hand the Moslem Brotherhood do not see the Christians as a threat (The Saudi Arabia support The Salafi movement in Egypt, and they supported the coup against Morsi and it is believe them NOT the Moslem Brotherhood who attack all of the Christian Churches). Thus the Christians ended up allied with the people burning down the churches for both groups oppose the Moslem Brotherhood and allied themselves with the Generals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi_movement
I have NOT heard much of the Christians of Egypt in the last six months, I suspect it is for the same reason I have not heard of the Salfai Movement in Egypt. That reason is the Christians and the rank and file of the Salfai (but NOT the leadership of the Salfai) have both learned that they made a HUGE mistake. All both groups can do is wait till the next wave of revolt in Egypt and hopefully back the winning side.
happyslug
(14,779 posts)It can further refer to any head, face, or body covering worn by Muslim women that conforms to a certain standard of modesty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab
Thus the two women being hit by the water cannon are in compliance with Hajib, they hair is covered. Now one who is getting the full blast may be wearing jeans, but can can be "Hajib" given the long jacker she is also wearing.
Now, I see a woman behind them without any head covering and it looks like another woman, fourth from the right running away from the cannon.
Everyone else is male.
Remember the Moslem Brotherhood did NOT require women to dress Hajib, recommended it but did not require it.
Here is President Morsi saying requiring Hajib for women is ridiculous and against Moslem Doctrine for Islam requires the Freedom of Choice. Thus women can and can NOT wear the Hajib. He then adds a "If this behavior turns into something that harms society, as in the general case with anything, the legislature will intervene as would be the case of any individual, even if it is the President of the Republic himself".
i.e if women do something that harms society, then what they did can be made illegal, just like if the President did something that harms society, what the President did can be made illegal. I.e he would make it illegal IF IT HARMS SOCIETY, but he sees no harm in women NOT wearing the Hajib.
Through Morsi did REMOVE the BAN on wearing the Hajib on Television and one female announcer did so.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/world/middleeast/egypt-abuzz-as-woman-in-hijab-reads-news-on-state-tv.html?_r=0
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/07/12/Al-Jazeera-Employees-Resign-Over-Network-Siding-with-Muslim-Brotherhood
Remember Morsi was only in power for a YEAR, Sisi has been in power for almost a year and a half. Thus you can NOT blame the further deteriation of the Egyptian Economy on Morsi. The deteration includes:
After the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, one year after he took office, Egypt entered another phase of political uncertainty. Economic growth has moderated, standing at just above 2% in both the 2011/12 and 2012/13 fiscal years. In 2012/13, the resilience of private consumption (81.2% of GDP) and the munificence of government consumption (11.7% of GDP) kept the economy from sliding into recession, as investment (14.2% of GDP) and exports (17.6% of GDP) remained weak. Unceasing violent protests and political instability have adversely affected manufacturing (15.6% of GDP), trade (12.9%) and tourism (3.2%). Only traditional sectors such as agriculture (14.5% of GDP) and mining (17.3%) have remained relatively unscathed.
http://www.afdb.org/en/countries/north-africa/egypt/egypt-economic-outlook/
The main reason Morsi was removed is he was addressing these issues, but that meant offending the Generals and their family members and friends, who control the wealth of Egypt. They (and the Christians, who are the "old money" in Egypt) opposed Morsi, for his plans was to take they money and use it to help the poor and the economy as a whole. If you remember right, every time Morsi did something someone was calling it illegal or unconstitutional, for the Judges of Egypt are of the same class as the Generals.
Thus the problem in Egypt, the poor and working class of Egypt (Roughly the bottom 60% of the population) look to the Moslem Brotherhood for leadership for there is no one else. The Top 10 % support the Egyptian 1% (the Generals and their Friends). The bottom 60% can NOT be squeezed anymore, thus the 30% between these two groups are the ones being squeezed today. Marx made the comment that when the Upper Middle Class is forced into the Working Class, you have a revolution. That is happening in Egypt right now, and has been for at least 10 years. That was the cause of the Arab Spring that lead to Egypt being taken over by the Moslem Brotherhood. You need the support of the Working Class (Roughly that group above the bottom 10 % but below the top 40%) and for decades that group has looked to the Moslem Brotherhood for leadership NOT any secular opposition to the Generals.
Sorry, any opposition will require any revolution to include the Working Class, and that means accepting many of the goals of the Moslem Brotherhood. Thus almost any opposition has to include members of the Brotherhood and those protests without the Brotherhood are meaningless (and ignored, as this one was NOT).
Just a comment that as the situation in Egypt goes from bad to worse, things will be stable. Another observation made by Marx, i.e. revolutions do NOT occur when things get worse, but when things bottom out and start to bounce back. Egypt has not bottomed out yet, so Sisi is safe, for now. Watch out if things do bottom out.